Bullying in Schools

In many cases, it will be possible for parents to resolve bullying issues at school by themselves, in conjunction with their child’s teachers and, if necessary, the head teacher of the school. It’s always best to try to maintain a friendly relationship with the school, and get them to do what is necessary to sort out the problem.

There are complaints procedures for schools, a copy of which should be on each school’s website. If informal methods do not succeed, it will often be possible to resolve matters using the more formal complaints procedure, including taking the matter to the governing body of the school if necessary. Even if utilising the complaints procedure, strive to keep the relationship positive.

As set out above, when dealing with bullying it’s important to ensure that the school is fully aware of the bullying situation, and encourage them to sort out the problem.

Some parents keep their children away from school because of problems relating to bullying. This is not necessarily a method that will find favour with schools and Local Authorities, and can and does lead to a risk of prosecution for non-attendance at school.

If matters have got to this stage, it may well be necessary to seek external help, including from appropriate statutory services including the NHS’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) if possible. This might also be the stage where it’s appropriate to get legal advice on your options.

It’s often quite difficult to persuade both schools and Local Authorities that your child should be exempt from the requirement to attend school because of the bullying to which they are being subjected.

We have considerable experience of assisting children who are the victim of bullying at school. Unsurprisingly, most of the bullying cases that we have dealt with tend to be at the more serious end of the spectrum, and are ones which parents have been unable to resolve satisfactorily themselves.

Our Education Solicitors are experts in resolving bullying issues at both state and private schools. We seek to engage with head teachers to ensure they deal with the problem as rapidly and effectively as possible. Where appropriate we use the law (including the threat of Judicial Review) to ensure anti-bullying policies are implemented, and that schools comply with their obligations under equalities legislation in circumstances where the bullying is related to race, religion, a disability or another protected characteristic.